Sealing structure for bottle

ABSTRACT

A sealing structure includes a bottle and a cap sealing the opening of the bottle. The bottle includes a body, an opening formed on the body and a flange protruding from periphery of the opening. The flange has a curved shape having a lower end depressed and connected to periphery of the body to form a neck portion. The cap includes a skirt portion which surrounds the periphery of the body and has a plurality of teeth equally spaced on periphery of the skirt portion and extending longitudinally along the body and a plurality of radial protrusions protruding toward the periphery of the body between every two adjacent teeth. The teeth are pressed by a machine in a lower position thereon so that the radial protrusions abut periphery of the neck portion, and the cap abuts the flange and is conformal with and completely fitted to the flange.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a sealing structure for a bottle, and in particular to a sealing structure for sealing a bottle effectively with a metal cap to prevent entry of foreign matters to the bottle.

2. Description of the Related Art

Bottles for beverage like beer are generally made of glass to keep the beverage in good flavor and have better preservation condition, and moreover metal caps are often used to seal the bottles.

FIGS. 1 and 2 depict a conventional sealing structure for a glass bottle with a metal cap. Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional metal cap 10 sealing a bottle often has a skirt portion which includes a plurality of teeth 11 equally spaced on outer periphery of the skirt portion to facilitate removal of the pressed metal cap 10 from the bottle by an opener, and moreover a depression 12 is formed between every two adjacent teeth 11 to abut the bottle. The metal cap 10 is possibly provided from an intermediate blank product formed by punching or pressing metal material. The blank metal cap 10 is pressed to the bottle to seal the opening of the bottle. To have a better sealing effect, a packing 13 is often applied to an inner bottom of the metal cap 10. The packing 13 was made of cork in early period, but it is most made of plastic material now.

FIG. 2 depicts the conventional metal cap 10 sealing an opening 15 of a bottle 14. Referring to FIG. 2, a flange 16 protruding from outer periphery of the opening 15 of the bottle 14 is provided to engage the metal cap 10. The flange 16 has a curved shape protruding radially and a lower end 17 depressed and connected to the outer periphery of the upper body 18 of the bottle 14 to form a neck portion which is provided to position the metal cap 10. Accompany with the packing 13, the metal cap 10 seals the opening 15 of the bottle 14.

In the described conventional sealing structure, since an upper end 19 (shown in FIG. 2) of the depression 12 abuts the flange 16 in a position above the lower end 17, a small gap may exists between the teeth 11 of the metal cap 10 and the bottle 14 to allow foreign matters pass through the metal cap 10 and enter the bottle 14.

The teeth 11 formed by a typical method has a large longitudinal length a and a hollow interior space b. The small gap is therefore formed between the hollow teeth 11 and the flange 16. Foreign matters may move along a direction shown by arrows c into the hollow interior space b of the teeth 11 and even pass through the hollow interior space b to enter the opening 15 of the bottle 14.

Although the packing 13 is provided between the metal cap 10 and the opening 15 to seal the opening 15, the packing 13 made of cork or film may be damaged by certain foreign matters such as microbes to allow the foreign matters enter the bottle 14. In addition, due to the high production rate in factories, the metal cap 10, the opening 15 or the packing 13 may fail to cause an unsealed structure under allowable production tolerance in the production process, and the probability for the entry of foreign matters through the small gap is thus increased.

Appearance of foreign matters in beverage bottles with unopened metal cap 10 may damage reputation of related company and cause large financial loss. It is necessary to improve the conventional sealing structure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to provide a sealing structure for a bottle wherein the hollow teeth and the opening of the bottle are sealed to prevent entry of foreign matters to the bottle.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sealing structure for a bottle wherein the inner periphery of the cap is conformal with and completely fitted to the outer periphery of the opening of the bottle.

To achieve the described objects of the invention, a sealing structure is disclosed, which includes a bottle and a cap sealing the opening of the bottle. The bottle includes a body, an opening formed on the body and a flange protruding from periphery of the opening, wherein the flange has a curved shape having a lower end depressed and connected to periphery of the body to form a neck portion. The cap includes a skirt portion which surrounds the periphery of the body and has a plurality of teeth equally spaced on periphery of the skirt portion and extending longitudinally along the body and a plurality of radial protrusions protruding toward the periphery of the body between every two adjacent teeth, wherein the teeth are pressed by a machine in a lower position thereon so that the radial protrusions abut periphery of the neck portion, and the cap abuts the flange and is conformal with and completely fitted to the flange.

In a preferred embodiment of the sealing structure of the invention, the pressed position on the teeth is lowered so that the cap abuts the flange and is conformal with and completely fitted to the flange, which provides a better sealing effect.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention can be fully understood by reading the subsequent detailed description and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a conventional metal cap with a packing;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a sealing structure for a bottle with the cap of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partially sectional view of a sealing structure of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a cap of the invention before sealing;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of FIG. 4 in A-A direction;

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of a cap of FIG. 5 and a bottle of the invention before sealing; and

FIG. 7 depicts a sealing structure of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The novelty and other features of the invention are described by the following embodiments accompany with the drawings.

Referring to FIG. 3, an intermediate blank product of a cap 20 is preferred to be formed by punching or pressing. The blank cap 20 is pressed to an opening 31 of a bottle 30 made of glass by a sealing machine (not shown). A packing 21 made of cork or plastic film is preferred to be disposed on an inner surface of the cap 20.

Referring to FIG. 4, the cap 20 includes a top and a skirt portion 24 connected to the top. A plurality of teeth 22 are formed on the periphery of the skirt portion 24 and equally spaced thereon to facilitate removal of the pressed cap 20 by an opener. A depression 23 is formed between every two adjacent teeth 22. The teeth 22 are pressed in a lower position to have a longitudinal length a₁ shorter than the longitudinal length a in the conventional sealing structure.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the teeth 22 of the skirt portion 24 are pressed in a lower position (below the top of the cap 20). The depression 23 formed between every two adjacent teeth 22 protrudes from the inner periphery of the cap 20 and toward the bottle 30 to become a radial protrusion 26.

Referring to FIG. 6, the bottle 30 for beverage like beer is the same as the conventional bottle. A flange 32 protrudes from the outer periphery of opening 31 to engage the cap 20. The flange 32 has a curved shape. The lower end of the curved shaped has a depressed arc portion 33 connected to periphery of an upper body 34 of the bottle 30 to form a neck portion for positioning the cap 20.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 7, when the cap 20 is to be pressed to the opening 31, the pressing die of the sealing machine is lowered and pressing a lower position on the teeth 22 so that the radial protrusion 26 formed by the depression 23 abuts the lower end of the neck portion formed by the depressed arc portion 33. The sealing machine presses the teeth 22 in the lower position, the skirt portion 24 is forced to abut the flange 32 so that the cap 20 is conformal with and fitted to the flange 32 tightly.

When the cap 20 is pressed to the opening 31 by the sealing machine, the radial protrusions 26 abut the lower end of the neck portion formed by the depressed arc portion 33, and the cap 20 is pressed to be conformal with and fitted to the flange 32 tightly so that the entry of foreign matters to the bottle 30 is avoided.

The sealing structure of the invention provides the depression portion formed by teeth of the skirt portion. The teeth are pressed in a lower position so that the depressed arc portions abut the neck portion of the bottle to form an effective sealing structure. The sealing structure prevents small foreign matters from entering the bottle and provides a better sealing effect for the bottle.

While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modification and similar arrangement (as would be apparent to those skilled in the art). Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modification and similar arrangements. 

1. A sealing structure, comprising: a bottle comprising a body, an opening formed on the body and a flange protruding from a periphery of the opening, wherein the flange has a curved shape having a a depressed arc portion located on a lower end thereof and connected to a periphery of the body to form a neck portion; and a cap movable to a sealed position and sealing the opening of the bottle and comprising a top, a skirt portion connected to the top and surrounding the periphery of the body of the bottle and a plurality of teeth equally spaced on a periphery of the skirt portion and extending longitudinally along the body of the bottle and a plurality of radial protrusions protruding inwardly toward the periphery of the body of the bottle and being located between every two adjacent teeth of the plurality of teeth, wherein, when the plurality of the teeth are pressed by a sealing machine in a lower position thereon, the cap is moved to the sealing position, the radial protrusions having a shape and size corresponding with and abutting a periphery of the neck portion formed by the depressed arc portion of the bottle, and an inner periphery of the cap having a shape and size corresponding with and abutting a periphery of the flange; wherein, when the cap is located in the sealing position, the interior periphery of the cap, the plurality of radial protrusions, and the skirt portion of the cap have a shape corresponding with and continuously abutting the bottle from an upper portion of the flange of the bottle to a portion of the bottle located below the neck portion formed by the depressed arc portion of the bottle. 